I would not get this dog. $ given to these people just continues the cycle of dog abuse. I also know you intended to be very selective. This dogs sounds sweet but you will probably have a lot of housebreaking as well as possible health issues. I would much rather see you get a dog from a rescue than support a puppy mill. I know it is hard and you want to save her but until we all refuse to support these places they will continue to churn out and abuse dogs.

I can see your delimma. My first thought was I would not buy from this "breeder" for the reasons listed above..I would feel it is supporting their business and if no one buys from this "breeder" they will be forced to stop breeding.

Then I was thinking...what if somehow one of my dogs ended up in such a situation? If I sold a dog or puppy to somone who put my dog in such a situation..Id buy her back in a hearbeat.

Of course we cant save every dog and buying this dog or even getting her for free just keeps them in business..I honestly dont know what I would do looking in the eye of such a dog..

As far as house training..who knows! Madonna, my almost 3 year old has lived in a house and in a kennel at the handlers place for her first 2 years. It took me a good 3 months to get her reliable..I think some dogs who dont learn to be clean...dont ever learn to be clean. Madonna still prefers to pee and poop on the sidewalks..and she walks constantly as she pees and poops because she doesnt want it to get on her feet...like it does when you pee on concrete. Some things are learned early and I think are hard to change.

This dog deserves a good home..how else might she get it unless someone buys her? Its a very hard decision..Something will help you with your decision (obviously not me lol). I hope you get her and trun her over to a rescue if need be. :-)

I thought I'd let you know about my housebreaking experiences with a 10-month-old puppy and a two-year-old adult dog, both of which had lived in an outdoor kennel situation. Both were Rottweilers (from different breeders) but their situations were different in that they came from reputable breeders and they'd both been very well cared for.

It took me two weeks to housebreak the puppy. I just approached it as I would have with a younger puppy. She only had a couple of accidents inside, more my fault than hers of course. After two weeks, she was asking to go outside and never had another accident in the house.

The two-year-old took one day to housebreak! She started to squat to pee on the rug, I yelled "No!" from the next room, she paused and I rushed her outside. She peed, I made a huge fuss, handed over treats and she was housebroken. She was one incredible dog all around.

The other thing you need to think about is the fact that Peaches has probably never been off the farm so you will face some extra work in socializing her. Both my dogs were well-socialized with people and other dogs when I got them but needed some time to get used to life outside a kennel. They came around really well though.

Yeah, I agree with the poster above; buying this dog won't make much difference in that guy's business (or any difference at all, probably). He's got 46 more puppies to sell and probably more on the way. And usually I am pretty practical about these things...I did grow up on a farm after all and everyone had a job, even the animals. Also livestock was raised with the specific purpose of being slaughtered to provide food for people (however, my brothers and sisters and me made pets of every calf and every pig; we never, ever managed to stay detached and they were all our pets). But for some reason poor Peaches' story strikes a cord for me. It's silly but I think to myself, there are tons of people lining up to buy beautiful pups from great breeders for thousands of dollars, and they will have great lives no matter if you get on a waiting list for one or not, because there are so many people who want them. But who's lining up for Peaches? BUT, the decision has to be right for your family, and it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks in this instance. You mentioned that you are on lists for rescues too, so you are an awesome person and you should feel good about whatever decision you make, because there are other dogs out there that need to be rescued too, some probably even more than Peaches.

My heart hurts when I hear stories like this .....& wish I could save all the unfortunates. I know that if money were no object,and time and commitment were just a small matter, I would do it! It might only be 1 dog but it's one less dog in a sad situation....It's just how I feel.

Housebreaking a poodle puppy is pretty darned easy. Jazz only made a few mistakes and Bonnie a bit more challenging, but still housebroken within a few weeks.

Around my area rescue dogs are more than $300, so the price isn't much. You are going to be hardpressed to find a purebred standard poodle for $300 anywhere else. This guys dogs are his business, so he won't have much attachment to them. The reason she chose to hang around you instead of wander off is because she is a poodle in desperate need of human attention. She may well have a wonderful temperament and that's why he chose to breed her. She may be needy/clingy at first until she realizes you aren't going to go away.

I prefer puppies, but she sounds like a nice girl to me. If you thought she was pretty when she was all filthy, imagine what she'd look like all cleaned up. Teeth and grooming and a possible ear infection could easily be several hundred dollars, though. Does she have her vaccines? If not, that's another expense. Some rescues come from much worse situations than that and often rescue dogs have terrible behavior problems. You said it was clean and she had a good sized run and wasn't too skinny.

If I wanted an older adult dog who is mature and already calmed down, I think she sounds like a fine choice. If she has only ever pooped outside and you allow her access to the outside easily (like with a doggy door), I bet housebreaking her won't be much trouble at all.

I have the emotional response...I'd get her out of there, and show her what a real home is like. I can't help it, that's just how I roll .

Housetraining might not be too bad at all. It took me 3 months to housetrain Lola reliably, but I rescued a Rottie girl from the pound who had been an outside dog....she peed once in the house...I saw her, and ran her outside, she finished peeing, and we celebrated her good deed...she never used the house again. As far as Lola taking 3 months...it was always my fault....I'd fall asleep or something, and not get her out. In the last 2 weeks she has started going to the door.

I rescued a Rottie girl from the pound who had been an outside dog....she peed once in the house...I saw her, and ran her outside, she finished peeing, and we celebrated her good deed...she never used the house again.p

I agree with the statements that you are just making room in the barn for a younger bitch to take that brood slot. I can't see supporting this type of operation in any way, and it's a bold statement. if a small one, to walk away from a dog in need today in order to prevent more dogs from filling that slot and perpetuating that cycle... The man in CT who has just been relieved of some 65 dogs was flying them in from the south - yes, he is the flying chihuahuas guy... He has a past record, and when he's done with this mess, he'll move on to have another. Same with most of these situations - if it's the first incident, it's not the last - and it's usually not the first incident... A real statement would be each of us lobbying our local government officials to get a registry opened, like that for sex offenders and child abusers, and to have restrictions on these people that are enforceable with actual laws. I know there is one bill up for discussion, and plenty of reputable breeders are against it because it requires you own the bitch, only have a certain number of dogs on your property, etc... And while I agree that the limits seemed extreme, they would make the situation you describe illegal and punishable - (WHO has time for 46 PUPPIES???)

*****That said*****, If she was a good fit for my family, I would probably bring her home and suck it up on the vet bills, if the people would just give her to me - no cash changing hands. I could not pay them for the dog, knowing I was paying more than that in vet bills that they had neglected. Your dental visit and spaying is likely to cost more than the $300, even if you go to a low cost clinic...

It's a tough choice and you are going to have to trust YOUR heart and GUT on this one....